Many smartphones have the Android operating system, which initially has a lot of icons behind which various applications are hidden. Before we figure out how to install an application on Android, let's figure out what an Android application means?
The Android application is a program with clear functionality that is designed to work normally on a smartphone, taking into account its capabilities. For example, such a program could be a game, a State Services application, a Sberbank application, a VKontakte application and numerous other Android applications.
On the other hand, an Android application is an “apk” file (from the English Android Package).
The "apk" file is the executable or installation file. It contains the application code and all the resources needed to get the application up and running. After completing the installation procedure for the apk file, you will be able to use the application.
In accordance with the fact that an Android application is
- or a regular application,
- or an application in the form of an apk file,
Then you can install the application on Android in two ways:
- like a regular application that is installed from the store, or
- as an application that is launched through an apk installation file.
Applications: pre-installed and those that the user installs
Devices running in the operating room Android system, already from the moment of purchase contain a large number of applications. Such applications are called differently:
- pre-installed
- factory,
- default applications
- etc.
To the number of preset software usually includes applications that provide antivirus protection, device navigation, geolocation, communication, and much more. When the user becomes comfortable with the functionality that has already been installed, he may need to add applications independently, of his choice.
Users who have just started mastering Android often have a question: why do we need applications for Android, and in such quantities? Is it possible to do without them?
You don't have to install new applications, or turn off pre-installed applications. Accordingly, in this case, the smartphone becomes a “morally obsolete” mobile device, which only allows you to make a call, send/receive an SMS and check the time. Agree that few people are satisfied with such “stripped-down” functionality of a smartphone.
In any case, as you master it, there is a need to install some applications: VKontakte, Facebook, WhatsApp or others. As they say, appetite comes with eating. Android applications are easy to install, and if you don’t like them, they can be easily removed. Below we will consider these actions in more detail using the example of the Android application for Yandex.Mail.
How to install an application on Android from stores: the first method
The word “store” does NOT mean that the Android application will be paid. The store can have both free and paid applications.
The easiest way to install applications is from Google Play Market. IN Play Store It’s convenient to search required applications and find out information about them. Installing applications from the Play Store is done by clicking on the “Install” button.
Let's look at how to download Yandex.Mail on Android. The application is supported on smartphones and tablets on Android based 4.0.3 and higher. To download other applications, the steps will be almost exactly the same.
Application Play Market is pre-installed for Android. Find the Play Market icon among Android Applications and open it:
Rice. 1. You can find the Play Market in Android Applications
After opening the Play Market store, you need to look for the Yandex.Mail application. To do this you can:
1 in Fig. 2 – enter “Yandex mail” in the search bar and
2 in Fig. 2 – the application will be found:
Rice. 2. Download Yandex Mail for Android from the Play Market
It is important to open official Android applications, because, alas, there are many “fake” ones.
Open the Yandex.Mail application in Google Play Market to download and install it:
Rice. 3. Install Yandex Mail on Android
Before installing the application on Android, for security reasons
Rice. 4. Accept permissions before downloading Yandex.Mail on Android
By clicking the “Accept” button for permissions for Yandex.Mail, the application will be downloaded to Android. And you will be able to open the mail or delete:
After the Yandex.Mail application is installed, you can later find the mail icon in Android Applications:
Rice. 6. Installed Yandex.Mail can be found in Applications
Google Play Market is NOT the only store where you can download Android applications.
- Among domestic stores, one can highlight the Yandex Store.
- The American Amazon AppStore is also widely known.
How to delete an Android application
It happens that you used an Android application, but then for some reason you are not satisfied with it and you want to delete it. The pre-installed application can only be turned off; it cannot be deleted.
And those applications that the user installed himself are easy to remove. For example, let's look at how to remove the Yandex.Mail application.
Open “Settings” of Android:
Rice. 7. Android settings can be found in Applications
In Settings, find the “Device” tab and go to Application Manager:
Rice. 8. Android Settings – Device – Application Manager
In the Application Manager, from all the variety of applications, you need to find the Yandex.Mail application, which will need to be deleted:
Rice. 9. Find Yandex.Mail in the Application Manager
Before deleting Yandex.Mail, it is advisable to:
1 in Fig. 10 – Clear cache,
2 – Clear data, then
3 in Fig. 10 – Delete Yandex.Mail.
Rice. 10. Clear cache, data and delete Yandex.Mail
Delete the Yandex.Mail application means that such an application will not be on the smartphone. But this does not mean at all that it will be deleted along with the application.
If you need to delete your Yandex.mail account, I wrote about how to do this on a computer.
If there is no “Delete” button for an application, or this button is not pressed, it means that such an application cannot be deleted, because without it Android will not be able to function normally.
How to install an application on Android: the second method is an apk file
Applications on the Android system can also be installed by directly clicking on the “apk” file, which was NOT obtained from the Play Store. Such a file can be installed not immediately, but at a convenient time. In addition, such a file can be sent to a friend.
There is an Apkpure store from where you can download an apk file for any Android application:
Please note that to install applications NOT from the Play Store, you will need to enable the “Unknown sources” option in the device security settings on Android.
- To do this, open “Settings” of Android (Fig. 7),
- in Settings we find the “System” tab (2 in Fig. 11),
- and in the System open “Security” (3 in Fig. 11):
Surely many users of Android devices on board were wondering if it is possible to install applications and games on a smartphone or tablet from a computer? We answer - there is an opportunity, and today we will tell you how to take advantage of it.
There are several ways to download programs or games for Android directly from your computer. Let's start with a method that is suitable for any device.
Method 1: Google Play Store web version
To use this method you will only need modern browser for viewing Internet pages, for example, Mozilla Firefox is suitable.
- Follow this link . will appear before you home page content store from Google.
- Using an Android device is almost impossible without a “good corporation” account, so you probably have one. You should log in using the button "To come in".
Be careful, use only the account that is registered for the device where you want to download the game or program! - After logging into your account, either click on "Applications" and find what you need in the categories, or simply use the search bar at the top of the page.
- Having found what you need (for example, an antivirus), go to the application page. In it we are interested in the block marked in the screenshot.
Here is located necessary information– warnings about the presence of advertising or in-app purchases, the availability of this software for the device or region, and, of course, the button "Install". Make sure that the selected application is compatible with your device and click "Install".You can also add the game or application you want to download to your wish list and install it directly from your smartphone (tablet) by going to a similar section of the Play Store.
- The service may require re-authentication (a security measure), so enter your password in the appropriate box.
- After these manipulations, the installation window will appear. In it, select the desired device (if there is more than one linked to the selected account), check the list of permissions required by the application and click "Install", if you agree with them.
- In the next window just click "OK".
And on the device itself, the download and subsequent installation of the application selected on the computer will begin.
The method is extremely simple, but in this way you can download and install only those programs and games that are in the Play Store. Obviously, for the method to work, you need an Internet connection.
Method 2: InstALLAPK
This method is more complicated than the previous one, and involves the use of a small utility. It will come in handy when your computer already has an installation file for a game or program in APK format.
- After downloading and installing the utility, prepare your device. The first thing you need to do is enable "Developer Mode". You can do this as follows - go to "Settings"—"About the device" and tap on the item 7-10 times "Build number".
Please note that options for enabling developer mode may vary depending on the manufacturer, device model, and installed version OS. - After such manipulation in the menu general settings the item should appear "For developers" or "Developer Options".
When you go to this item, check the box next to "USB Debugging". - Then go to the security settings and find the item "Unknown sources", which also needs to be noted.
- After that, connect the device with a USB cable to the computer. The driver installation should begin. For correct operation of InstALLAPK you need ADB drivers. What are they and where to get them - read below.
- After installing these components, run the utility. Its window will look like this.
Click on the device name once. The following message will appear on your smartphone or tablet.
Confirm by pressing "OK". You can also note "Always allow this computer", so as not to confirm manually every time. - The icon next to the device name will change color to green - this means a successful connection. For convenience, the device name can be changed to another.
- If the connection is successful, navigate to the folder where the APK file is stored. Windows should automatically associate them with InstallALLAPK, so all you have to do is double click by the file you want to install.
- Next is a rather unobvious moment for a beginner. A utility window will open, in which you need to single-click the connected device. Then the button will become active "Install" at the bottom of the window.
Click on this button. - The installation process will begin. Unfortunately, the program does not signal its completion in any way, so you have to check it manually. If the icon of the application that you installed appears in the device menu, it means that the procedure was successful and InstALLAPK can be closed.
- You can proceed to install the next application or downloaded game, or simply disconnect the device from the computer.
Quite difficult at first glance, but this number of actions only requires initial setup– subsequently, it will be enough to simply connect your smartphone (tablet) to the PC, go to the location of the APK files and install them on the device with a double click of the mouse. However, some devices, despite all the tricks, are still not supported. InstALLAPK has alternatives, but the principles of operation of such utilities are no different from it.
The methods described above are the only viable options for installing games or applications from a computer today. Finally, we want to warn you - use either Google Play Store or
Technology platform Android applications turned out to be universal and developer-friendly. You can develop an Android app and publish it on the Google Play Store with minimal restrictions. This concept has led to the rapid development of popular Android applications, some of which are not available on iOS and other platforms. To run an Android application, you usually need to use a smartphone or tablet with this OS - this is obvious. What to do if you want to try using Android without buying a device?
Fortunately, you have this opportunity; Android can be run even on an old desktop computer. There are several ways to accomplish this task, each of which has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Perhaps the easiest way to run Andoid apps on a Windows computer is to use the ARC Welder app to Google browser Chrome. The application was developed by Google and it can be used not only on Windows computers - this method Works also on Chromebooks and Macs. The launch process is practically independent of the platform used. Simply go to the Chrome Web Store and install the ARC Welder app from the catalog.
The ARC Welder application is in beta and is intended primarily for developers. However, the process of downloading the app is quite simple. You need to upload the APK file to ARC Welder. The APK file can be obtained using Reserve copy applications on physical Android device or by downloading from various third party sites on the Internet. We do not recommend downloading paid applications and games from dubious sites. There are resources that archive free apps, for example APK Mirror.
When the required APK file is downloaded and ready for download, you can open ARC Welder from the list of extensions in Google Chrome and specify this file. Then you need to choose how to display applications - landscape/portrait mode, smartphone/tablet mode and clipboard access method. Not every Android application will launch this way, and some applications may lose some of their functionality. ARC Welder, unfortunately, on this moment does not have built-in support for Google Play services (unless you are an application developer and do not have access to source code), That's why Google apps and some third party applications will refuse to work.
Applications or games that run in ARC generally run smoothly. You can get full functionality from Evernote, Instagram and even Flappy Bird. You can only have one application installed in ARC Welder at a time; to launch another application you need to return to the installation dialog.
The application deployment process and the limitation of running only one application at a time create barriers to everyday use of the tool. However, the extension is suitable for the needs of developers and testers, or simply to get acquainted with the capabilities of the mobile platform.
The next easiest way to run Android apps on a PC is to use an Android emulator developed by Google as part of its software development kit (SDK). The emulator can be used to create virtual devices running any version of Android with different screen resolutions and hardware configurations. The first disadvantage this method can be called a rather complex installation and configuration process.
Neither product is perfect - you need devices supported by the tools, such as the Dell XPS 12 in the case of the Intel version or the Lenovo ThinkPad x61 for Android-x86. You can install these environments on top of Windows, but it's not the most best idea. The most reasonable way is to create a separate partition hard drive and installing Android on it.
If your PC configuration is not supported by these products, you can try installing them in VirtualBox or VMware virtualization environments, which are faster than Android emulator. These products may still not be suitable for testing games, but most applications will install and work correctly. You will need to install applications yourself, because... There is no Google Play integration in these products. For help, you can use the instructions on our website - Installing Android in VMware Workstation.
If you are looking for a tool to launch several applications at once and Android games, and easy to install and configure, then your choice is BlueStacks. represents one of the most simple ways to launch applications. However, the product uses a highly modified Android version to launch applications. BlueStacks contains a built-in Google Play store, and you have access to all purchased paid applications. The program is added to the list Google devices Play called Galaxy Note II.
A separate BlueStacks window contains a list of applications divided into categories: games, social media etc. When searching for an application or clicking on the icon of a specific application, the unexpected happens - the Google Play client in tablet mode is displayed. The user can navigate the interface as they would on a regular Android device, making BlueStacks more than just an “app player.” In fact, the user can install third-party launchers such as Nova or Apex from the app store and select them as the default launcher. The home screen in BlueStacks with app categories is a variant of the home screen. Thus, by replacing it, you can feel like the owner of a real Android device.
Full access to the Google Play store eliminates problems with application deployment, and BlueStacks itself works stably and quickly. You can play most games, but you may have problems using the mouse. If your computer has touch screen, You will be able to use applications that support multi-touch. BlueStacks can turn a Windows 8 tablet into an Android tablet. The technology used in BlueStacks is called “LayerCake” because Android applications run in a separate layer on top of Windows.
The only drawback of BlueStacks is the use of a modified Android builds. All changes made by the product developer to run Android applications on PC may cause crashes and failures in the application. This modified environment is of little value to developers - there is no guarantee that applications that display and run correctly on BlueStacks will behave the same on a physical device. The service uses a freemium monetization model - you can either pay $2 for a subscription or install several sponsored applications.
Which way is better?
If you want to test an application before installing it on physical devices, the Android emulator offers The best way to pre-test the application on your computer. The product is quite slow, but it is standardized, so the developer can see how the application will behave on a real smartphone or tablet. Porting Android to PC can achieve decent performance, but there may be issues and glitches and it requires compatible hardware.
If you need to get several Android applications on your computer at once, the best solution will be BlueStacks App Player. The product provides full access to Google Play, works quickly and supports Windows devices with multi-touch. Don't forget about ARC Welder as a way to run one application at a time. The extension is free and easy to install.
In most cases, the question of whether it is possible to install applications on Android via a computer refers to a situation where the user does not have access to wireless networks, but there is a wired Internet connection at the fixed terminal. Next, we will look at several basic ways to install Android applets using exactly these methods.
How to install applications on Android from a computer: options
Among the simplest ways to install Android applications from a computer, there are several main ones:
- downloading the installation distribution to mobile device from PC;
- installation via Play Market storage;
- use of control utilities and emulator programs.
Although all the methods seem quite simple at first glance, in some situations you should pay attention to the nuances of the settings, without which all efforts will be in vain.
Downloading the distribution and transferring it to your mobile device
In the simplest case, installing an application on Android via a computer is quite simple. Let's say a user has access to the Internet only from a fixed terminal with a wired connection. Just find and download the installation file of the application or game in standard format APK, recognized by all versions of the Android OS without exception, and then connect your mobile device using a USB cable and copy it from the hard drive to the internal drive or SD card.
Next, on your smartphone or tablet, you just need to launch the transferred distribution and go through the standard installation procedure. But the problem of how to install applications on Android from a computer is not limited to this. The fact is that if you download files from unofficial resources (meaning Play Market), the system may not install the program, considering it unsafe.
To prevent this situation from happening, before starting the installation you should go to the system settings and in the security section enable the permission to install software from unknown sources (in some versions of the system this parameter may be in the section intended for developers). Only after this can any application, no matter where it was downloaded from, be installed without problems.
Using access to Play Market
You can also use direct access to the Play Market storage directly from your computer via a web browser.
In this case, installing applications on an Android tablet from a computer will also be easy. But there are two mandatory conditions: connecting a mobile device to a computer and going through the authorization procedure in the Google service Play.
To find the required applet, enter the service, then enter the registered address Email Gmail and password specified during registration. As is already clear, this is done exclusively on a PC. After this, a similar procedure must be performed on the mobile device (if the entry is inactive by default). Once both registration records are synchronized, all that remains is to find the desired program and activate the installation start (compatibility of the installed software with the connected tablet or smartphone will be determined automatically). Next, you need to select your device from the list (it should be marked in gray), click the install button and wait for the process to complete.
Installing applets using emulators and control programs
Another technique to solve the problem of how to install applications on Android from a computer is to use special programs, capable of emulating the operation of an Android system in a Windows environment.
Today you can find a lot of such programs on the Internet. One of the most popular is a small utility called BlueStacks. After installing it on your computer or laptop, if everything is done correctly, run setup files APK format will be available directly on the Windows terminal.
In some cases, when the application also contains a special cache folder, you will have to transfer it to the mobile device manually. This is usually the obb directory, which should be saved in the data directory located in the root Android folder on the internal storage. But do not confuse the name sdcard with a removable card!
How to install Android applications on your computer?
Now there's another one interesting point. Not all users know that you can install programs on your computer that are designed to work on Android systems. But this will require some kind of management utility.
You can use, for example, the Mobogenie program. Its remarkable feature is that it works as an emulator and allows you to run Android applets in its environment. In this case, the environment itself must be installed both on the computer and on mobile device, but you do not need to install installed programs on your mobile device. You can perform testing directly in Windows.
A few conclusions
Probably, many have already noticed that the question of how to install applications on Android from a computer or install Android programs in Windows environment, can be solved quite simply. Any final advice? Naturally, the easiest way is to just copy required file on a smartphone or tablet and install it on the device itself. But in some cases, the rest of the described methods or programs are also perfect. And don’t forget about some permission settings and manual transfer of cache folders to the internal drive. Without this, the programs either will not install or simply will not work.
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Unlike iOS and other closed systems, Android developers have provided the ability to install various applications independently, without the participation of Google Play Store and other content stores. Having the .apk file in your hands, you can install it yourself paid application without paying a penny for it.
"Why resort to self-installation by using. apk files? "- you ask, and then that not all applications are presented in the Google Play Store and, moreover, most of them are paid and cost money. All applications for Android have .apk extensions - in fact, this is a kind of archive, the contents of which can be viewed by anyone archivist.
Where to begin?
The first action you need to perform is to allow the installation of applications from unknown sources, go to Settings -> Applications and put a tick next to the item Unknown Sources and click OK.
1. Installing applications using a file manager
After this simple step, you can copy the .apk file to the SD card of your phone. Next, to install the application, you can use any file manager that recognizes and understands apk files. ASTRO File Manager or ES File Explorer are suitable for these purposes.
Run file manager, find the apk file, tap on it and install the application using the standard Android installer.
2. Install applications using the application manager
In addition, to simplify the procedure for installing applications for Android, there are special programs - application managers. One such program is SlideME Mobentoo App Installer.
This popular application manager for Android will automatically scan your smartphone's SD card for the presence of apk files and help you quickly, in one click, install the required application. Isn't it convenient?
3. Installing applications using a computer and USB
However, the most convenient way installing Android applications by connecting your smartphone to your computer via USB cable. To do this, you will need the InstallAPK program and USB drivers. Install it on your computer, don’t forget about the drivers, connect your smartphone via USB cable and double-click on the apk file.
InstallAPK will independently identify the apk file and start installing the application on your Android phone. You will only need to agree to install the application and click the "Install" button.
4. Other ways to install Android applications
In case you do not want to install any additional programs, then you can install the application from apk files the old-fashioned way. Run standard browser Android and enter in address bar browser the following link and the installation will start automatically:
content://com.android.htmlfileprovider/sdcard/FileName.apk
This method is not very convenient and is suitable for those who rarely install programs for Android.
Conclusion
In this article, we tried to describe all the methods known to us for installing an Android application from apk files. If you know other ways to install programs, write to us about them in the comments and we will definitely include these methods in this article. Stay with us.
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